Third, living in solitary places, the source of all good qualities.

When unfavourable places are abandoned, disturbing emotions gradually fade;

When there are no distractions, postive activities naturally increase;

As awareness becomes clearer, confidence in Dharma grows -

To rely on solitude is the practice of a bodhisattva.

When you live in a solitary place, your negative emotions gradually diminish, and your self-control and moderation increase. Gyalse Thogme himself said:

In a solitary place,

There are no enemies to defeat,

No relatives to protect,

No superiors to look up to,

No servants to be looked after.

So, apart from taming your mind,

What else will you have to do there, Mani-reciters?

Undisturbed by friends and relatives, undistracted by the need to earn a living through business or cultivating the land, you will be able to concentrate one-pointedly on deep spiritual practice and thus make spiritual progress with you body, speech, and mind. Your mind will become self-controlled, serene, clear, and filled with certainty about the truth of the teachings. This is why all the sages of the past lived in the wilderness, in solitary, mountainous places conducive to spiritual practice. As Shantideva said:

And so, revolted by our lust and wanting,

Let us now rejoice in solitude,

In places where all strife and conflict cease,

The peace and stillness of the greenwood.

And it is also said:

Unattached to gain, be like th wind, like a bird,

Dwelling in the wilderness, be like a shy animal.

Acting rightly, you will remain unperturbed.

If you wish to concentrate entirely on the Dharma instead of being constantly tossed hither and tither by waves of attachment and aversion, give them up and go to a solitary place. Turn you mind inward, identify your defects, rid yourself of them, and develop all your inherent good qualities. Be content with just enough food for sustenance, just enough clothing to protect yourself, and your practice will progress from day to day, month to month, and year to year.

Once you are free from all distracting conditions, your practice will bring you progress along the path. That is why all the yogins of the past wandered like beggars from one solitary place to another. Even a single month in a quiet and lonely place will be enough for you animosity to be replaced by a wish to benefit others, and your attachment to friends by a strong feeling of impermanence and impending death.

As Lord Atisha said: “Until you have attained stability, distractions harm your practice. Dwell in forest and mountain solitudes. Free of upsetting activitiesm you will be able to devote yourself entirely to practicing the Dharma, and you will have no regrets at the time of death.”

And Drom Tönpa said: “This decadent age is not a time for ordinary beings to help others externally, but rather a time to live in solitary places and train their own minds in the love and compassion of bodhicitta.”

Such is the strength of delusion and habitual tendencies that practicing Dharma might initially seem very hard; but these difficulties will gradually subside. Once you have understood the essential point of the teachings, you will experience no hardship or difficulty in the practice. Your efforts will bring you joy. It is like developing any skill – as you master the important points, it becomes progressively easier, you gain increasing confidence and your capacity and endeavour keep on growing.

Whatever meditation or reflection you have done, it will never be wasted. The benefit it brings will be present in your mindstream at the time of your death, and will help you be born in a place where the Dharma flourishes, near an authentic spiritual teacher. Life after life, you will evolve from a mediocre into an average practitioner, and from an average practitioner into an excellent one. The essence of learning is reflection, and the essence of reflection is meditation. As you go deeper and deeper into the meaning of the teachings, the wondrous qualities of the Dharma will become even clearer, like the sun appearing ever brighter the higher you fly.

The sign that you have fully assimilated your learning of the Dharma is that you become peaceful by nature. The sign that you have assimilated your meditation is that you are free of obscuring emotions. As learning leads to reflection and reflection forms into meditation, your eagerness for the deluded activities of this life will relax, and you will year for the Dharma instead.

Anything you do that is in accord with the Dharma, however small or trivial it might seem, will be beneficial. As the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish says:

Do not take lightly small good deeds,

Believing that they can hardly help;

For drops of water one by one

In time can fill a giant pot.

Similarly, even if you practice only for an hour a day with faith and inspiration, good qualities will steadily increase. Regular practice makes it easy to transform your mind. From seeing only relative truth, you will eventually reach a profound certainty in the meaning of absolute truth.

The main hindrance to growth of such qualities is distraction. Distraction can occur in every single moment. If you let time flow pointlessly by, at the time of death you will regret that you have not practiced the Dharma. But by then it will be too late, and your regret will not help at all. now is the time to go to a secluded place and put the instructions you have received from your teacher into practice. Each instant of your life will then become precious and meaningful, leading you farther away from samsara and closer to liberation